In the fabrication of motor vehicles a method of the above type is known, whereby a trimming of the edge of a first sheet section is carried out in a numerically controlled laser cutting/welding machine, said first sheet section being fixedly retained in a fixture, whereafter a second sheet section, which is also fixed in the said fixture, is cut along an edge and the two edges are brought into abutment for a subsequent welding together of the sheet sections. The fixture used at said method is very strong and comparatively complicated construction.
German patent No. 1.119.057 discloses joining of two metal strips by forming a dovetailed protrusion in the first strip and forming a complementary tab in the second strip, which are subsequently brought into engagement with each other. The two sections are then connected by means of welding, for instance by resistance spot welding. The object is to hold the ends of the two strips together to form a coherent strip at a subsequent processing thereof.
Finally, from U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,844 it is known to provide the ends of strips of metal with complementary dovetailed protrusions and tabs for keeping the strips together during a subsequent compression of the joint and in a subsequent processing in a roller. Thus, no accurate joining of sheet parts is disclosed.